MKM Series Frankfurt May 2016 Legacy Main Event 25th of 407

Played in the Legacy Main Event at MKM Series in Frankfurt May 2016. More information can be found on series.magiccardmarket.eu

I played a classic Death & Taxes list (see below). 10 Rounds played with 407 players attending.

Round 1 – Free Win due to No Show

Round 2 – 2:1 win against UWr Miracles

Game 1 I have turn 1 Vial and get Batterskull with Mystic out as well. Although I have some serious misplays those two still take it down

Game 2 My hand is a bit on the weakish side and he can control me long enough so just 2 Angels suffice to kill me

Game 3 Is a long drawn out game. Due to Top being disabled he has to hardcast terminus at some point and Vial+Flickerwisp just resets Batterskull. An added Sword of Fire and Ice deals too much damage for him to come back

Round 3 – 2:0 Win against UWr Miracles

Game 1 an early Stoneforge+batterskull is basically sufficient as he does not find enough removal.

Game 2 is a very long grind where I have to go through 2 Nahiri and numerous Snapcasters. I can bring him down low but 2 Monastery Mentors clutter up the ground. Ultimately I can land an Stick a Flickerwisp with him at two live. Game 2 ands right with the end of the round.

Round 4 – 2:1 Win against TES

Game 1 I do not have Thalia so he wins. That is usually how game 1 plays out.

Game 2 Hate kicks full in as I start with Canonist, Thalia and Rest in Peace which is enough

Game 3 He tries going off on turn 2 with me only having Wasteland in play to avoid all my 2 mana hate. He starts with Brainstorm and takes a while to look at his hand. Turns out he was debating keeping a Thoughtseize and wait at least an additional turn to the storm count lost that way. Little did he know that I actually only had a single hate card in hand which was Mindbreak Trap. So he goes off incl. Rain of Filth sacrificing both his lands. Obviously he is very down after I show him Mindbreak Trap and he is still not sure if playing thoughtseize would have been the correct play. Post Board I pack around 12 troublesome cards for him. Also Revoker on LED or Petal can be troublesome and if game goes too long life gain from Batterskull might also become a problem.

Round 5 – 2:1 Win against BUG Delver

Game 1 is won by Stoneforge Mystic into Batterskull Value alone

Game 2 I bring him down quite low, but he has Deluge to stabilize at 6 life. A stare down ensues but my Mother plus Revoker only hold down Goyf plus two Deathrites long enough until Golgari Charm clears me away

Game 3 I start with Plains and no further play. He has Land plus Delver. I basically make a misplay by playing Wasteland and play Swords to Plowshares with Wasteland there to pay for a potential Daze…obviously I should have just Wasted the land and then played StP. As it turns out he has no other land and after not drawing one for some turns he concedes as I also have added Thalia to the board.

Round 6 – 0:2 Loss against Punishing Maverick

Game 1 I start out ok with a turn 2 Stone Forge Mystic but he has his singleton Mindcensor and I do not find equipment in the top four and he has SFM for Jitte himself next turn. To add insult to injury he also has Punishing Fire as well.

Game 2 I have a hand more on the weak hand and he again has Mystic into Jitte turn 2. It goes on longer but this matchup feels very very very bad.

Round 7 – 0:2 Loss against 4c Loam

Game 1 I start strong with Thalia into Mystic for Batterskull. But he gets loam going. I can take out Grove to prevent Punishing Fire from recurring and there is actually an opening where I need to draw one off 3 Wastelands or a Rishadan Port to take out his Maze of Ith for the win but I do not so that is it.

Game 2 I mull to 6 again and have Mother of Runes into Thalia. He has Removal foor Mom and then plays Chalice on 1 followed by Knight of the Reliquary and later another one. I am stuck at 2 lands and 2 Swords plus a Council’s Judgment in hand.

Round 8 – 2:0 Win against Merfolk

Game 1 my Opponent confessed he does not really play Legacy and is more of a Cube/Limited player (well at 5-2 he must not be completely bad). I have a great begin ning with Vial into Stoneforge Mystic for Jitte (I have Batterskull already in hand). He attacks with a lord and Silvergil into the Stoneforge mystic and gets brutally blown out when vial brings in a Serra Avenger and Mystic a Batterskull. The game is basically over after that.

Game 2 He has Daze for my Aether Vial and Stone Forge Mystic. Unfortunately for him I have another Mystic getting Sword of Fire and Ice. He plays Chalice on 1 (to which I immediately draw Swords and Vial) and also a Jitte. However I have Flickerwisp to reset the Chalice and play Swords to which he still has another Daze. He follows this up a lord and equips Jitte. I put Sword of Fire and Ice into play and equip attack and kill his Lord. He concedes as he has no creature in hand and no way to kill either sword or the creature it is equipped with.

Round 9 – 2:1 Win against Shardless BUG

Game 1 starts with lots of action on both sides but I am able to lock the game down with Thalia in play, Vial on 3 and Mangara+Karakas exiling a land each turn. Revoker on Deathrite as well prevents him from ever reaching 3 mana to fire off Decay on something.

Game 2 everything I play gets removed and Tarmogoyf takes me down

Game 3 is really long drawn out. In the end it is Sword of Fire and Ice on Mystic that cannot be blocked by Baleful Strix and ultimately Mirran Crusader that win the game (one turn too late because I messed up).

Round 10 – 1:1 Draw against UWr Miracles Thought Lash Combo

Game 1 I win fairly easy through some Termins’ due to Vial on 3 plus Flickwisp resetting Batterskull Time and Again. However my opponent is playing rather slow, so I am worried as matchups against Miracles tend to be drawn out.

Game 2 Is a long back and forth and he has Thought Lash plus Maniac. On the turn he goes off he can prevent me from removing Maniac with Swords or Vial+Flickerwisp thanks to Top and Brainstorm under Shelldock Isle

Game 3 basically starts with 2 minutes on the clock and he mulls to 5. I start with Mother of Runes plus Thalia. He basically only has lands but I am not fast enough and it is a draw.

So the result of 7-2-1 meant 25th place in the end. Even if I would have won the last game that would only have meant top 16 as the top 8 all could draw into top8. Still I was satisfied with the result and the deck. Decks like Loam and Punishing Maverick seem to be tough to unwinnable though unless you draw very specific hate. So going back I would cut 1 Revoker or Mangara for another Mirran Crusader as there were lots of BUG decks running around . Mangara is clunky in some matchups but can be really strong. Opponents got very worried and hectic when it came around.

Another option would be going to Green & Taxes which is sort of a middlestep to Maverick. This allows for other sideboard hate such as Choke. I am not confident Choke is that great outside of Miracles though which already seems a slightly favorable matchup.